Improvement



A. ALGARVEB.

Steam-Plow.

NO. 28,359. Patented May 22, 1860.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW A. GARVER, OF MECHANIGSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN DIGGING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 28,359, dated May 2.,1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW A. Ganvna, ofMechanicsburg, in the county ofCumberland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvementsin Digging-Machines, the construction and operation of which I havedescribed in the following specification and illustrated in itsaccompanyingdrawings with sufficient clearness to enable competent and.skillful workmen in the arts to which it pertains or is most nearlyallied to make and use my invention.

My said invention consists in, first, the combination, with acylinder orroller, of spades so hung in said cylinder as to be capable of beingvibrated as the roller revolves to relieve them in their operation, ashereinafter more fully set forth; second, the combination, with acylinder or roller having vibrating spades, as described, of adetachable connection which con nectstherollerand thetraction-wheels,bywhich the machine is made capable of acting as a pulverizer, at the sametime by its action scattering the earth in various directions,by which amore intimate incorporation of the particles is accomplished, thusadapting it to more efficiently mix the manure or compost with the soil,as hereinafter more fully set forth.

My invention is represented in the accompanying drawings as follows:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of it. Fig.3 is a vertical sectional view of the roller or cylinder which carriesthe spades with the spades and the slides for operating them attached.Fig. 4 is an i11- side elevation of one of the cams by which the spadesare vibrated. Fig. 5 is a detail view, showing the manner of adjustingthe lever by which the depth of action of the teeth is regulated.

1 1 are the side pieces, and 2 3 4 are the crossbeams, of the frame ofthe machine. The cylinder 5, which contains the digging-teeth or spades6, is hung to the top side pieces, 1 1, as shown, the shaft or axle ofthis wheel passing through the disks 7, as indicated in the drawings.The disks 7 are so attached to the sides as to be stationary when inuse, and also removable to allow the cylinder 5 to be taken out ot'themachine, should it be desirable to remove it for repair or for otherpurposes. Thecylinder is represented as being hung in bearingboxes onthe top of the pieces 1 l, but other modes ofhanging it may be adoptedshould they under the circumstances be found preferable. As beforeintimated, the spades are so hung to the cylinder as to be capable ofvibration on an axis, which axis in the construction I have adopted isformed of the shank of the spade or tooth, as shown at 8. An arm, 9,projects from each spade nearits root, and, being turned at rightangles, as shown, extends through one of the slides 10, forming ajournalor axis at theirjunction.

The teeth or spades 6 are set diagonally upon the face of the cylinder,instead of parallel with its axis, so as to give the machine a moreequal action, and the slides 10, which are placed parallel to the rowsof teeth or spades, extend the wholelength of the cylinder, and carryfrictionrollers at their ends to receive the action of the cams 7, eachof these slides 10 giving, by means of the motion received by them fromthe cams 7, an alternating vibration to the row ofspades alongside ofwhich it is placed. The cams 7 are disks formed with undulations ontheirinner surfaces, which give the necessary alternating motion to theslides for the purposes above stated. These undulations are shown bydotted line in Fig. 2 and by the shading in Fig. 3.

The forward end of the machine is supported on traction-wheels 11 and12, and these, or at least one of them, are connected by gearingconsisting of the wheels 13, 14, and 15 to the shaft of the cylinder 5.This connection is intended to provide the means ofconverting themachine into a pulverizer or mixer when desired, the vibratory motionofthe spades fitting the machine admirably for that purpose. The efl'ectof this gearing is to give the cylinder a much higher speed of rotationthan would be incident to its action of rolling upon theground. ltisobvious that in this case the teeth cannot take a very deep hold uponthe soil, or else the tractionwheels would not have sufficient adhesionto give rotation to the cylinder 5.

To regulate the depth which the teeth shall penetrate the ground, therear end of the frame is supported upon a roller or wheel, 16, uponwhich the frame is made adjustable by means of the lever 17. Thestandards 18 18 support a cross-bar, 19, which serves as a fulcrum forthelever 17, and a connection is formed between the roller or wheel 16and the lever 17 by the upright 20, which slides in a mortise in thebeam or cross-bar 4. The lever 17 is adjusted so as to bring the rearend of the frame at the desired height from the ground by hooking thislever into the notches 21 in the standard 22/ By this means any depth ofoperation of the spades that may be desired may be secured.

v 23 is a seat for the driver. The tongue or other attachmentfor-drawing the machine is made fast to the forward beam, 2, in a mannerwell known to any competent mechanic employed in constructing suchmachines.

When the machine is used as a digger instead of apulverizer, thegearingisdisconnected from the tractioii wheel by which it is propelled,which is done by drawing the pin 24, which acts as a key to keep theshaft of the traction-wheels from ret'olving without at the same timeoperating the gearing. A clutch or any other mode of connection anddisconnection may be employed for the same purpose, if desired.

I am aware that vibrating spades have been used before, and I am alsoaware that spades hung in a cylinder have also been employed withoutvibration, or only with such vibration as would allow them tobeeasilylifted from the ground without any torsional movement. These donot, however, combine the advantages which are fouiid in my invention orthe easy action of which my machine is capable.

.I am also aware that machines have been constructed in which toothedrollers have been revolved by means of traction-wheels. In the case,however, of my invention the torsional vibration of the spades, whencombined with this revolving motion of the cylinder, fits the machineadmirably for incorporating different ingredients of soil or someforeign substances with the soilas, for instance, manures of variouskinds, plaster, guano, &c.

Having fully describedmy invention,Iclaim as the improvements whichconstitute it 1. The combination, with the cylinder 5, of the spades 6,so arranged in connection with the other parts as to have atorsionalvibration, as described, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the cylinder 5 and the torsionally-vibratingspades 6 with the traction-wheels 11 and 12,0rone of them, by means ofdetachable gearing, substantially as and for the purposes stated.

ANDREW A. GARVER.

Witnesses:

MICHAEL GARVER, BENJAMIN GARRETT.

